Weekend awards: Best save, assist, celebration and more!

Football writer Adrian Kajumba looks at the standout players and moments from Matchweek 12.

Best save - Andre Onana 

Manchester United's new head coach Ruben Amorim was indebted to his goalkeeper as he began his reign with the small reward of a point against Ipswich Town.

Andre Onana produced two point-blank range saves to deny Liam Delap either side of half-time at Portman Road.

The first stop in particular was stunning, made with an outstretched arm when Delap seemed certain to score.

See: Onana's amazing first-half save v Delap

"That’s the save of the season. Unbelievable," said Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp. 

Onana made five saves in total against Ipswich, pushing his goals-prevented figure for the season up to a league-leading 4.50. 

This underlines Onana’s role in Man United’s overall defensive improvement - last season he was fourth in that category with 2.81.

After conceding a club-record 58 Premier League goals in 2023/24, Man Utd's goals conceded per match (from 1.5 to 1.1) and shots faced per match (from 17.6 to 11.2) have both reduced this season.

And although he was beaten by Omari Hutchinson’s deflected equaliser for Ipswich, the improvement is also shown by Onana still leading this season's race for the Golden Glove award with five clean sheets.

How Onana ranks

Best performance - Man City 0-4 Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur are no strangers to getting the better of Pep Guardiola but never have they done so in such emphatic fashion. 

Thanks to a truly stunning performance and result against Manchester City, Spurs inflicted the joint-biggest home defeat of Guardiola's managerial career. 

Spurs also now have the most wins of any team against him with nine.

Man City v Spurs highlights 

Ange Postecoglou is responsible for two of those triumphs with Saturday’s success following an EFL Cup victory in October. 

And, not for the first time, the methods of Spurs’ head coach were vindicated at Man City. 

A year ago Spurs were rewarded for a brave display when they rescued a late 3-3 draw.

This time, Postecoglou’s side were a constant threat on the counter attack, producing a Premier League-high six fast breaks, resulting in four shots and two goals. 

Postecoglou also moved Dejan Kulusevski out wide and recalled James Maddison - and witnessed inspired performances from both. 

Kulusevski set up the first goal and was involved in the third while Maddison scored twice. 

Two of Postecoglou’s substitutes, Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson, then came off the bench to seal a remarkable scoreline, as they combined for the fourth goal. 

Best touch - Matheus Cunha

Matheus Cunha is mixing class with graft to lead Wolverhampton Wanderers' revival. 

A second successive Premier League win was secured at Fulham where Cunha impressed with his work in both attack and defence to secure an excellent 4-1 victory.

His attacking masterclass at Fulham began with a first touch that earned him high praise.

Cunha's superb touch v Fulham

"It reminds me of [Dennis] Bergkamp back in the day," said the Dutchman’s former Arsenal team-mate Emmanuel Petit, when praising Cunha’s control for his first goal at Craven Cottage. 

That was one highlight from a Cunha display that also included a sumptuous second goal plus an assist in Wolves’ victory.

With seven goals and three assists, the Brazilian has been directly involved in 50 per cent of Wolves' Premier League goals this season - 10 out of 20 - the eighth highest percentage among all Premier League players.

Equally pleasing for his head coach Gary O’Neil were Cunha’s contributions off the ball too.

His performance at Fulham also featured two interceptions - his highest tally of the season - while he won possession five times, including twice in the final third. Both of those figures are joint-highs for this campaign.

"It was his best out-of-possession performance today," said O’Neil. "He was excellent."

Players most involved in their teams' PL goals 2024/25

Best partnership - Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka 

Arsenal may have an uphill task ahead to reel in leaders Liverpool, who they trail by nine points.

But having Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka back in tandem is a source of encouragement for manager Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal ended their four-match winless Premier League run with a convincing 3-0 victory against Nottingham Forest which was decorated by Odegaard and Saka’s link-up.

Odegaard set up Saka’s deadlock-breaking goal with a typically clever pass before the winger added an assist of his own for Thomas Partey. 

Odegaard and Saka combine to set up Partey

And it was noticeable just how often Odegaard and Saka looked for each other throughout against Nott'm Forest, in a clear sign of their chemistry. 

They combined 36 times during the match, the second-highest number of passes between two players, excluding defenders, in a Premier League game this season. 

Arsenal’s creativity unsurprisingly suffered during the injury-enforced, two-month absence of their playmaking captain Odegaard. 

But now they have their two key creators together again, removing the reliance on just one player to open up opposition defences, they have hope.

"When you put them together in the right spaces, things flourish and things happen naturally," Arteta said. "We are very lucky to have those two."

Most passes between players in PL match 24/25*

* excluding defenders

Best assist - Joao Pedro

"I know [Kaoru] Mitoma very well so I knew he was going to move into this space," said Joao Pedro, explaining why he was able to combine so brilliantly with the winger for Brighton & Hove Albion’s winning goal at AFC Bournemouth. 

Pedro managed to spot Mitoma's run and find him by threading a sublime pass through the tiniest gap between three Cherries defenders.

There was a no-look element to Pedro’s pass too which would have helped him deceive Bournemouth’s defenders. 

Joao Pedro's assist for Mitoma

Pedro's exceptional assist came after he also opened the scoring for Fabian Hurzeler's side at the Vitality Stadium.

And having scored and assisted in Brighton’s outstanding 2-1 win over Manchester City before the international break, Pedro became the first Seagulls player to score and assist in successive Premier League appearances.

Best celebration - Mohamed Salah 

Southampton fans may have got an unwanted sense of deja vu as Mohamed Salah wheeled away after his match-winning penalty in Liverpool’s 3-2 win at St Mary's. 

Just like in the Reds' 3-1 victory against the Saints in April 2019, Salah scored in a turnaround win and celebrated by flinging his shirt in his air to give the home supporters another sighting of his abs.

Salah's celebrations at Southampton 2019 & 2024

He seemed especially keen on this occasion to ensure his physique was in full view too as he remembered to rearrange his shorts mid-celebration. 

Salah knew what was coming next, a booking for removing his shirt. But that is nothing new - five of his 10 Premier League yellow cards have been for excessive celebrations.

His physical condition wasn't the only thing the Egyptian wanted to remind the watching world of - he also made the point of telling us again that his Liverpool contract will expire at the end of the season.

"I haven’t received any offer to stay at the club so probably I am more out than in,” Salah told reporters after the match.